Black Box Cinematography Launches New Movie Making Technology at Sundance Film Festival

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Richard Stout and Diamond Donna Root share new Virtual Cinematography, a low-cost, fast, high-quality alternative technology for compositing live-action actors and props into virtual backgrounds for movie makers, with launch of Black Box Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival with Sterling Van Wagenen.

Black Box Cinematography founders launch at the Sundance Film Festival

Black Box Cinematography plays in a unique space: enabling the shooting of scenes that need to be done quickly, inexpensively, and with cinematic quality,” said co-founders Richard Stout and Donna Root at the Sundance Film Festival celebration.

Park City, Utah (PRWEB)January 31, 2012

Today, Richard Stout and Diamond Donna Root, officially announce the launch of their new company, Black Box Cinematography and its new Virtual Cinematography technology, recently unveiled to film makers at a Sundance Film Festival celebration event.

“Black Box Cinematography plays in a unique space: enabling the shooting of scenes that need to be done quickly, inexpensively, and with cinematic quality,” said co-founder Richard Stout. “It is an addition to the latest virtual movie making toolkit. Digital effects technologies are often used to increase spectacle, Black Box uniquely leverages them to lower production costs.”

Typical applications include these: filmmakers behind budget, or shooting within a low budget. It allows small crews of independent filmmakers to produce period films in exotic locations, at a fraction of the cost. Or, for all filmmakers, to eliminate the costs of sets that are either too expensive to build, or locations that are too expensive.

“Black Box Cinematography is not a replacement for all traditional green-screen shots, but it does extend the cinematography toolbox into areas where green screen technologies cannot go,” said Diamond Donna Root producer. “We were honored to launch first among revered filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival and are now pleased to share this great technology news with the world.”
Black Box Cinematography is a new form of Virtual Cinematography, but it is not a replacement for Virtual Movie Making where virtual characters are composited into a virtual set. It is a low-cost, fast, high-quality alternative technology for com-positing live-action actors and props into virtual backgrounds, while uniquely maintaining real-time rendering of photo-realistic scenes that honor 3D perspective with a moving camera!

How is this all done? With a new patent-pending process, and proprietary software that together leverage industry-leading technologies from Red Cinematography, Autodesk, Pixar, and others.

Black Box Cinematography lowers the cost of virtual film making with the following:

Set construction is largely replaced by low-cost, photo-realistic models that derive from a filmmaker’s own scouting/still photography;

Creative freedom is increased by a merging of pre-visualization and production shots using actual virtual sets rendered in real-time;

Ability to quickly set up the shooting environment, without concerns and delays of green screen lighting requirements;

In-camera rendering of live action and virtual sets;

Ability to walk off the set with final shots in the camera--no post-production processing necessary;

Ability to shoot with shallow depth of field, and to rack focus between actors, in situations where green screen technologies have difficulty preserving all out-of-focus effects;

No rotoscoping costs or delays;

Ability to compose/visualize all shots as they are being com-posited on set;

Flexibility to visualize/frame and record in camera photo-realistic models in real-time as a camera is recording a shot and moving freely in 3D space.

To keep production costs down the Black Box Cinematography system is nearly plug and play;

We have created simplified interfaces for sophisticated underlying software and hardware systems;

Each take can be recorded, saved, and played back on set--showing you final renders/dailies for immediate review;

If you are using the Red camera system, “best takes” will be automatically associated with the appropriate animatic shot where it can be previewed with other shots--thus transforming the animatic into a rough cut of the film itself, on set;

At any time, animatic scenes can be converted to XML files to direct importing into leading non-linear editing programs such as Avid, Final Cut Pro, and PremierPro;

Motion-capture sensor device integration;

GS integration module;

Pre-animated segment integrations;

Blocked out green sections for post manipulations--virtual camera coordinates are always known, so it is easy to match-move new asset overlays in post;

A B52 camera and screen cage that swivels around the stage;

Theaters using Red Projectors, that have 50 foot extensions behind the screen, fit with sound-stage cages, for rental use during down times, or in in early morning hours 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., or later hours for a higher rates.

Green screen not only limits your wardrobe choices,

But also your face shape,

And your haircut, in low light situations;

It can render dark images, people in a background, invisible;

Situations that require back lighting to pull a good matte or key will no longer.